Immigration
If you are a Lebanese, then chances are that most probably you are going to face that decision. and in the majority of the cases you will end up taking it. Not because you are ambitious and not because you love to travel but most probably because you are forced to. This is in short the story of the Lebanese youth; we live about 18 years in our country and that’s it, after that we spend the rest of our lives searching for a new home or a place where we can live dignified and get a job that is good enough to support us. Many of us come under the illusion that it is something cool and fun to do, that it is an adventure! The truth is, there is no adventure about it at all, once the first few months have gone by then all the magic is gone.
In some cases, you might be somewhat lucky to have some members of your family or even distant relatives in the place where you are going to. Although this is definitely a great comfort and makes it much more easier than starting all on your own; still, nothing feels like home. the traditions, values, and way of living that we were brought up upon in our homes and small towns soon fade away and seem out of place in this new place. Nothing has the same taste, nothing feels the same, there is and will never be any familiarity in those streets. Nothing can ever assume the quality and characteristics of “home”.
But despite all that, we are known to be travelers, we have been doing it for such a long time that it has become a part of our system. We get so comfortable where we live and we bring in a lot of our traditions and values and lifestyles and we try as much as possible to cluster to each other. Yet it is sometimes a shame and a sad thing to know that the population of the immigrants and those of their descendants exceed by millions the current Lebanese population. What’s worse is that many of those descendants have never had a chance to come see Lebanon and try to experience its charm and magic, what’s worse is that the majority of them can’t even speak Lebanese.
If I want to elaborate more in this subject, I can go on and on for days talking about the success stories, the touchy stories and the survival and excellence of the Lebanese all over the world. Maybe that’s why it has become so easy for us to immigrate, probably it’s because we know that wherever we will go, we will probably meet other Lebanese along the way. But I would rather talk about the dream that tickles everyone to go back home, I prefer if we all had the chance and that if we only go for our education and then come back home and try to change our circumstances there. At least this is my dream……..
